Univa UD Announces General Availability of UniCluster Express 3.2

After Successful Beta, Free Open-Source Cluster Software Product is Available

LISLE, IL, Mar. 31, 2008 — Univa UD, the leading provider of HPC systems management software for the complete distributed computing lifecycle, today announced general availability of its UniCluster™ Express 3.2 product, which is available for free download at www.grid.org.

UniCluster Express 3.2 is a fully integrated, community-enabled, open-source cluster software stack with unrestricted support for all its components. It provides all the tools necessary to run technical computing applications on clusters – including configuration, job scheduling, monitoring, management, security and remote access.

The components of UniCluster Express 3.2 have been integrated so they operate seamlessly together after a simple process of downloading and installing. Complex configuration and implementation steps have been streamlined and built into the product so customers can concentrate on running the applications that keep their businesses operating.

Last November, Univa UD released a beta version of the product to allow members of the open-source community to try the program and have a positive impact on its final development. In December, a second version of the beta was released with enhancements suggested by early beta testers. To date, the betas have been downloaded more than 2,600 times.

"Clearly, over 2,600 downloads and a rapidly growing open-source community is demonstrative of the demand for a fully integrated and free cluster software solution that reduces the complexity for entry-level customers," said Steve Tuecke, co-founder and chief technology officer at Univa UD. "For months, Univa UD has received intelligent feedback from users, administrators and developers who have tried and tested the beta versions of this product, and we have used the information to strengthen our offering The end result is an extremely robust open, cluster solution that integrates exactly the components and features this market wants."

Today's announcement is welcome news for users of Sun Grid Engine, which provides the scheduling component for UniCluster Express. Customers who are already running a Sun Grid Engine cluster environment can upgrade their installations to UniCluster Express and retain all the value of their original Sun Grid Engine implementation with the added benefit of additional tools -- for configuration, monitoring, management, security and remote access – at no charge. Commercial-grade support is optionally available.

"The general availability of UniCluster Express is good news for users of Sun Grid Engine," said Fritz Ferstl, director of Sun's Grid Engine group. "Univa UD provides customers with a unique offering that combines quality integration of leading open source components with full support from Univa UD. Customers get a fully supported, quality HPC cluster environment from one vendor."

Customers with distributed computing environments can look to Univa UD for a range of grid and cluster products and services. In addition to UniCluster Express, the company offers Grid MP™, the leading technology for building distributed computing environments based on non-dedicated resources; and data center automation and managed services offerings.

About Univa UD

Univa UD is the leading provider of high-performance computing (HPC) systems management software for the complete distributed computing lifecycle. Univa UD products simplify the complex nature of deploying and operating cluster and grid computing environments and save customers time and resources while giving them confidence that their solution will perform as expected. Hundreds of Global 2000 companies come to Univa UD to build and operate their HPC infrastructures, from small-scale work group clusters to enterprise grids. With a community-enabled open source model and a focus on making business easier for our customers, Univa UD is advancing the vision and practice of HPC. Visit us at www.univaud.com.

About Grid.Org

Grid.org, an online community of open source cluster and grid software supporters, was launched in November 2007 to provide a single point for information exchange and interaction by users of cluster and grid technologies. UniCluster Express is the site's primary open source project. In early March 2008, the site listed more than 900 members and had logged more than 2,000 binary downloads.